Poisonous plants - friend or foe?

Daphne x transatlantica 'Pink Fragrance'

John will be familiar to many group members, as he regularly attends group events and is never short of an interesting story to tell about all manner of things plant related!

Plants, he reminds us, do not want to be eaten or infected and a common defence they employ is a wide range of toxins. Many popular garden plants have this defence, often unbeknown to the gardener, and poisonous plants can be encountered just as frequently in the countryside. A substantial portion of these plants have a utility beyond pest resistance - they are useful as medicines if their toxins are reduced to therapeutic doses. They would often have been familiar to the simplers and monks of former times, but are often unknown by gardeners now for their medical benefits. This talk will look at some of the many poisonous plants we cultivate, or encounter in the countryside, and their hidden uses.

John has been an amateur gardener since his childhood,encouraged by two enthusiastic parents.He has maintained a collection of Brugmansia for many years, and his interest in plant toxins stems in part from this relative of Deadly Nightshade, sharing as it does the same poisonous principles, and in part from the realisation that the many types of wildlife that visit his rural Gloucestershire garden are disinclined to eat Brugmansia or other poisonous plants. He sees plant toxins as an advantage in the garden, a natural way of inclining herbivores to seek a meal elsewhere, and has studied the sometimes surprising uses this group of plants possesses.

As usual the meeting will be followed by tea/coffee and scrumptious cake. Please don't forget to bring prizes for the raffle and any interesting seasonal plants to show to the group.

Please arrive from 1.45pm so we can be ready to start the talk at 2.15pm promptly.